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I don't know about Google, I do know about one project manager there, who felt that it wasn't good that I finished his pet project about six months ahead of him

I don't know about Google, I do know about one project manager there, who felt that it wasn't good that I finished his pet project about six months ahead of him. Then I told him that my stuff is all OSS and he was welcome to crib from it. At a robotics society meeting in Palo Alto in 2010, he told me that I was just a hobbyist and my project didn't exist. My 'bot had just run circles round his when his stopped working, in front of people. So I put one of my production logic boards in his hands. It had through-hole parts and was spiky. Then I squeezed his hand around it. Hard. "So, if it doesn't exist, how is it making you bleed?" (My American friends told me that I did not handle that well. My Italian friends told me that I handled that masterfully. I tell this story to highlight differences in culture.)

chimeracoder 12y ago
> "So, if it doesn't exist, how is it making you bleed?" > (My American friends told me that I did not handle that well. My Italian friends told me that I handled that masterfully.) That's a great story, and thank you for sharing it. Though at the risk of getting downvoted, I think I know why your [American] friends were telling you that you didn't handle it well. Aside from the lawsuit potential (which is real), it doesn't really advance the situation in a way that helps anybody - either you or him. Clearly he feels intimidated by you, and that's why he's mentally unwilling to acknowledge you and/or your project. But after you assaulting him[0], he's not going to suddenly change his mind and acknowledge that you beat him. Rather, he's going to double-down, and now have even more reason to believe that you're unstable/immature/unprofessional, or whatever he needs in order to convince himself that you're not worth paying attention to. As for you, it makes you feel better, but it also doesn't really get you what you ultimately want (him admitting that he was wrong). You win the battle, but the "war" goes on, with both sides even more emotionally entrenched in their existing positions. [0] yes, this would qualify as assault
- magicalist 12y ago
  Yeah, that guy sounds like an asshole, but the GP sounds like an unstable violent person. Bringing it up now to apparently brag about the situation doesn't help but reinforce that... You just beat the crap out of his robot. I don't see how trying to stab him with solder spikes is handling anything "masterfully".
  - spiritplumber 12y ago
    I did not beat the crap out of his robot, we both demoed the same thing (Android-brained tank bot) and mine worked properly, while his didn't. He became angry, and insulted me and my work. I am not a violent person by Mediterranean standards - maybe by Anglosaxon standards. The last time I started a fight, I was nine years old. I got such a thrashing by my old man that I never did again. But he always said, hit second, hit last.
    - magicalist 12y ago
      > I did not beat the crap out of his robot, we both demoed the same thing (Android-brained tank bot) and mine worked properly, while his didn't. Sorry, I meant in terms of the competition, not physically.
    - mreiland 12y ago
      The thing about passive aggressive pricks is that they're not typically violent. That's WHY they're passive aggressive pricks.
  - spiritplumber 12y ago
    I'm not bragging about the situation - I'm relating a story relevant to the article. You can draw your own conclusion. Perhaps if I had been a more gracious winner, we could've done business together, as it stands we didn't. However, he was an extremely sore loser. What would you have done?
    - dsp1234 12y ago
      However, he was an extremely sore loser. Physically hurting someone because they hurt your fee-fees makes you an "extremely sore loser" too, just in a different way.
      - spiritplumber 12y ago
        I didn't hurt this guy because he offended me, I hurt him because he denied reality. Someone who can look at something and say "This does not exist, because I will it not so" is clearly delusional and needs a jolt of physical sensation to get back to reality. That said, I tend to take things extremely literally when agitated. He might have meant "You're unimportant, this might as well not exist".
kbenson 12y ago
Your American friends are likely afraid that making it physical is a quick way to make it something that can be sued about, rightfully so Your Italian friends are likely afraid that the asshole will get away with his stupid behavior and it will be reinforced, rightfully so. I think both groups were right, given the correct context. Being an American myself, I read your story and think what you did was awesome, but know that I couldn't bring myself to do it for fear of legal retribution.
- foldr 12y ago
  Sane people would disapprove of spiritplumber's actions because it's not ok to physically assault someone just because they're being a dick. The potential for lawsuits shouldn't have anything to do with it.
  - spiritplumber 12y ago
    Sane people do not say of a physical object "this does not exist". If someone denies reality so bluntly, they are beyond words. Physical feeling may be required. I have a tendency to take things very literally when I am agitated.

chimeracoder 12y ago

> "So, if it doesn't exist, how is it making you bleed?" > (My American friends told me that I did not handle that well. My Italian friends told me that I handled that masterfully.) That's a great story, and thank you for sharing it. Though at the risk of getting downvoted, I think I know why your [American] friends were telling you that you didn't handle it well. Aside from the lawsuit potential (which is real), it doesn't really advance the situation in a way that helps anybody - either you or him. Clearly he feels intimidated by you, and that's why he's mentally unwilling to acknowledge you and/or your project. But after you assaulting him[0], he's not going to suddenly change his mind and acknowledge that you beat him. Rather, he's going to double-down, and now have even more reason to believe that you're unstable/immature/unprofessional, or whatever he needs in order to convince himself that you're not worth paying attention to. As for you, it makes you feel better, but it also doesn't really get you what you ultimately want (him admitting that he was wrong). You win the battle, but the "war" goes on, with both sides even more emotionally entrenched in their existing positions. [0] yes, this would qualify as assault

magicalist 12y ago
Yeah, that guy sounds like an asshole, but the GP sounds like an unstable violent person. Bringing it up now to apparently brag about the situation doesn't help but reinforce that... You just beat the crap out of his robot. I don't see how trying to stab him with solder spikes is handling anything "masterfully".
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  I did not beat the crap out of his robot, we both demoed the same thing (Android-brained tank bot) and mine worked properly, while his didn't. He became angry, and insulted me and my work. I am not a violent person by Mediterranean standards - maybe by Anglosaxon standards. The last time I started a fight, I was nine years old. I got such a thrashing by my old man that I never did again. But he always said, hit second, hit last.
  - magicalist 12y ago
    > I did not beat the crap out of his robot, we both demoed the same thing (Android-brained tank bot) and mine worked properly, while his didn't. Sorry, I meant in terms of the competition, not physically.
  - mreiland 12y ago
    The thing about passive aggressive pricks is that they're not typically violent. That's WHY they're passive aggressive pricks.
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  I'm not bragging about the situation - I'm relating a story relevant to the article. You can draw your own conclusion. Perhaps if I had been a more gracious winner, we could've done business together, as it stands we didn't. However, he was an extremely sore loser. What would you have done?
  - dsp1234 12y ago
    However, he was an extremely sore loser. Physically hurting someone because they hurt your fee-fees makes you an "extremely sore loser" too, just in a different way.
    - spiritplumber 12y ago
      I didn't hurt this guy because he offended me, I hurt him because he denied reality. Someone who can look at something and say "This does not exist, because I will it not so" is clearly delusional and needs a jolt of physical sensation to get back to reality. That said, I tend to take things extremely literally when agitated. He might have meant "You're unimportant, this might as well not exist".

kbenson 12y ago

Your American friends are likely afraid that making it physical is a quick way to make it something that can be sued about, rightfully so Your Italian friends are likely afraid that the asshole will get away with his stupid behavior and it will be reinforced, rightfully so. I think both groups were right, given the correct context. Being an American myself, I read your story and think what you did was awesome, but know that I couldn't bring myself to do it for fear of legal retribution.

foldr 12y ago
Sane people would disapprove of spiritplumber's actions because it's not ok to physically assault someone just because they're being a dick. The potential for lawsuits shouldn't have anything to do with it.
- spiritplumber 12y ago
  Sane people do not say of a physical object "this does not exist". If someone denies reality so bluntly, they are beyond words. Physical feeling may be required. I have a tendency to take things very literally when I am agitated.